Nationwide Cocaine Ring Dismantled

A narcotics ring that shipped cocaine across the country has been dismantled, authorities said Tuesday in announcing the seizure of a nearly $80-million cache of the drug and the arrests of seven Cuban natives.

The ring, in what has become a commonplace practice, was believed to have smuggled its cocaine across the Mexican border by trucks that dropped their cargo in Los Angeles, where the drugs were then shipped across the country.

In all, about 1,400 pounds of cocaine, valued on the street at about $79.5 million, were seized, authorities said.

The seizure was made after a joint investigation involving the Los Angeles Police Department, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the California Highway Patrol.

Investigators said they believe the ring had been smuggling cocaine “for some time,” but there were no precise estimates on when it began operations and no indication of how much of the drug it had been responsible for bringing into the United States.

The investigation began in the summer, after a CHP officer trained to detect drug-carrying commercial vehicles became suspicious of a tractor-trailer rig owned by Moonlight Trucking Co. of Alma, Ark., Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates said.

On Oct. 8 the same officer made a traffic stop of a Moonlight rig in Burbank and discovered nearly 700 pounds of cocaine stuffed into a hidden compartment in the truck’s sleeper berth. Two men were arrested.

Gates said those men, identified as Olvido Linares Jr., 22, of Miami, and Silvano Acosta, 23, of Hialeah, Fla., served primarily as drivers in the operation and were allegedly paid $200 for every kilogram (about 2.2 pounds) of the drug they transported.

Within five days, the CHP, together with the DEA and Los Angeles police, stopped a second Moonlight rig near Desert Center in Riverside County, 175 miles from Los Angeles.

Roughly 630 pounds of cocaine were seized. Two men--Joseph Alvarez, 45, and Rene Reyes Montenegro, 44, both of Miami--were arrested.

The investigation then moved to Newark, N.J., where on Saturday authorities arrested Jacinto Diaz, 25, and Ricardo Alvarez-Perez, 43, both of Miami, and Pedro Pedrianes-Valinda, 20, of Hialeah.

Diaz was identified as the owner of the trucking company and a “key player” in the ring.

But authorities declined to say who masterminded the operation.